clumsily

adv

"clumsily" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“clumsily” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #46,986. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#46,986
frequency rank, English
43,570
“C” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In a clumsy manner or way; without care or finesse, often hurriedly or awkwardly.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

clumsily vs clumsy
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for clumsily
PropertyValue
Headwordclumsily
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters8
Frequency rank#46,986
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “clumsily” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). clumsily lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around clumsily, anadverb. Corpus frequency is #46,986 among 43,570 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "In a clumsy manner or way; without care or finesse, often hurriedly or awkwardly.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for clumsily, with forms such as "cclumsily", "cllumsily", and "clmusily". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "clumsy", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From clumsy + -ly. The correct English form is clumsily, spelled C-L-U-M-S-I-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    In a clumsy manner or way; without care or finesse, often hurriedly or awkwardly.

Etymology

From clumsy + -ly.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cclumsily
  • cllumsily
  • clmusily
  • clumisly
  • clummsily
  • clumsilly
  • clumsilyy
  • clumsiyl
  • clumsliy
  • clumssily
  • clusmily
  • culmsily
  • lcumsily

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of clumsily - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

cclumsily1cllumsily1clmusily2clumisly2clummsily1clumsilly1clumsilyy1clumsiyl2
Edit distance from "clumsily"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "clumsily"?
"clumsily" is spelled C-L-U-M-S-I-L-Y.
What does "clumsily" mean?
As an adverb, "clumsily" means: In a clumsy manner or way; without care or finesse, often hurriedly or awkwardly.
What words are commonly confused with "clumsily"?
"clumsily" is commonly confused with "clumsy". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "clumsily"?
From clumsy + -ly. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “clumsily”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-L-U-M-S-I-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “clumsy” - see the side-by-side comparison. clumsily vs clumsy
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Same frequency band

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list